Judith Serota was Executive Director of the Spitalfields Festivals in east London until late 2007. As a surprise leaving present to her, the then Artistic Director of the Festival, Diana Burrell, conceived the idea of assembling a set of Piano pieces of easy to intermediate difficulty for her to play. These were to be variations on a theme: Bist du bei mir, a song for voice and continuo in J.S. Bach's second Klavierbüchlein or "Little Keyboard Book".

The variations were written by the Artistic Directors of the Spitalfields Festival, all composers, with whom Judith had worked over the preceding 20 years. Since then, several more composers, linked to the Festival during those years, have contributed pieces. The result is Variations for Judith, "eleven short reflections" on the theme.